Not A Small-Town Girl

----

The two cars collided, and Danielle burst out

laughing. "This is so much fun! Crash! Crash into

you!"

David watched, amused, as she kept trying to bump

into his car. She looked so cute, almost like a little

violent imp.

They kept crashing into each other, and the sound of

Danielle’s laughter filled the entire amusement park,

like a melody.

Meanwhile, at the Treeside Villa, in the dead of night,

a quiet, eerie scene unfolded.

Vivian, who had been sound asleep, suddenly sat

upright in bed, her eyes empty, like she was hearing

some kind of distant call. She got out of bed and

walked toward the door.

Howard, startled awake by the movement, groggily

called out, "Honey, where are you going?"

But Vivian didn’t respond. She simply pushed open

the door and made her way down the stairs.

----

Howard called after her several times, but she didn’t

answer, and his concern grew. Sensing something

was wrong, he got out of bed and hurried to follow

her.

By the time he reached the basement door, Vivian

had already entered the code and opened it.

Howard’s heart skipped a beat. That was the door to

the basement, where the butler and maid were locked

up. What could Vivian possibly want there?

Worried that the two of them might harm Vivian,

Howard rushed to the door, but before he could reach

it, he saw Vivian beginning to untie the maid, Judy.

“Honey, what are you doing?" Howard shouted, panic

in his voice as he grabbed her hand, trying to stop

her.

----

"Undo the Fopes, quickly. If you don’t,

it’ll be toctate," a voice in Vivian’ ’s

head eghoed, causing her head to

eaentont, She pushed Héward

aside, intent on freeing Judyo

Meanwhile, Ivan, also bound by ropes, watched

calmly as Vivian acted under the control of the curse.

“Control him, too," Ivan said quietly.

----

Vivian, still not fully in control, hesitated. She wasn’t

sure if she could control both Howard and Judy at the

same time.

"I’ll try," she muttered, already struggling to keep her

focus.

Howard, confused and alarmed by the strange

behavior, remembered what Danielle had said about

curses. He now realized that Vivian was under their

control.

"What are yousdoing?" A cold shiver

ran down Datielle’s spine as she

remembered the words Judy had oO

used that evening, speaking of S

curses) They had cursed Vivian=no

worder when Howard callecher,

adn’t reacted.

----

“You’ll find out soon enough,” Ivan replied, his eyes

no longer respectful, but filled with disdain.

“This is the Darling family. Whatever we do, you can’t

escape. You two..."

Howard’s words faltered, and the

next momenfhis eyes glazed over,

as thouginhe were struggling tognoveldrama

break free’ from some invisible hold.

Clutcking his head, he managed to

choke out a few words, "Yous you...

won’t... control me."

----

But in the end, the poison had the final say.

“You two, unbind us now," Judy ordered, her voice

cold and sharp. The poison was controlling their

minds now.

"Okay," the two responded in eerie unison, their

movements mechanical as they began to untie lvan

and Judy.

The ropes came off, and both of them grinned in

relief.

"Good thing Master wanted to curse them

beforehand, or we might’ve really been done for,” one

murmured, eyeing the unresisting captives.

----

“What about these two?" Judy asked Ivan, her mind

already plotting the next step. "What do we do now?

Should we take advantage of their sleep and

eliminate them all at once?"

She cast a venomous glance at Ivan. Her rage

burned hot. How dare Danielle defeat her so easily?

She would have her revenge—Danielle had to die.